


The Way Home

by sanctuary_for_all



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: But sooo much less angst than the movie will have, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-11
Updated: 2014-07-11
Packaged: 2018-02-08 11:26:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1939272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tauriel would be leaving Dale with more than she arrived with.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Way Home

**Author's Note:**

> I know this isn't how the third movie is going to end. But oh, I wish it was.

Tauriel would be leaving Dale with more than she arrived with. She had not needed much for the hunt, as able as any of her kind to live off the gifts the land provided. Had she been certain she still had a place back in Mirkwood, she would have been content to return the same way.

But orcs had not been all she'd sought on her hunt. Though there was a chance the king might have forgiven her defiance for the sake of eradicating a future threat to the kingdom, he would not look so kindly on her need to linger in this place. It was too obvious that the reason for it was the warm-eyed dwarf who was packing next to her.

"These are all the arrows they had left," Kili said, handing her a small, neatly-wrapped collection. "They're not as good as the ones you came with, but they should hold you until you can make it back home."

 _I no longer know where that is,_ she thought but did not say. Legolas had left, days before, confused and disappointed by her decision not to follow him. But that, she feared, was not a matter that would interest the man before her. "Thank you." Her fingers lingered against his skin, the heat of it soaking into her fingertips. "Were you able to acquire enough weapons for you and your men?"

"It'll only be Nori, Bofur and I." He shrugged slightly, lips pressing together briefly as he let go of the arrows. She began packing them into her quiver, ignoring the way her hands felt suddenly cold. "Just enough to let everyone know what happened and start the expedition back to Erebor."

He fell silent, and after a moment she looked over at him. His head was bent over his own pack, expression solemn, and she found herself wishing she could see his smile just once more before they parted. One last sunlit memory to carry with her on her journey.

"And to keep your promise," she said softly. When he turned, looking at her with surprise, she smiled a little. "Your mother will be happy to see that her reckless child has returned to her side."

That grin flashed for just a moment, and she gathered the sight of it close to her heart. "Remember, she only thinks I'm reckless." Then the humor melted away, replaced by a tenderness so deep it made her heart ache. "You're the only reason I'll be able to keep my promise, my lady."

Her hand half lifted, reaching for him, then she curled her fingers back against her side. "You called me Tauriel, before."

_Do you think she could have loved me?_

But there was no sign that he ever knew that moment as anything but a fever dream. And he had called her the same when they'd fought side by side to defend the city.

That was all that was in his mind when the corners of his lips curved upward, the shape of them somehow managing to be both abashed and cocky at once. "A wise man takes every opportunity he can to say such a beautiful name."

She could not stop her own smile from widening. "So what you're saying is that your wisdom failed you briefly."

"As it's been known to do, on occasion." Then the tenderness returned, and she was no more able to withstand it than she'd been the first time. "I am forever in your debt, my lady Tauriel." Gently, carefully, he took her hand in his. "Whenever I feel the starlight on my face, I will think of you among the trees of Mirkwood."

It was undoubtedly foolish, but she couldn't bear to hold the words back a second time. "I will not be returning to Mirkwood."

Kili went utterly still, so much so he almost seemed to have stopped breathing. "Why?" he asked quietly, fingers tightening around hers.

Elves, as a rule, did not understand impulse – sudden desires tended to be ignored when you reckoned time in centuries rather than days or weeks. If she were wise, she would dismiss her connection with this dwarf as nothing but the foolish fever of a moment, gone with the morning.

Tauriel let out a breath of her own, eyes locked with his. "Because I will carry thoughts of you back with me, and they will not be welcome in that place."

His eyes shone like stars, their light dimming only when he closed them for a moment. He pressed his lips against her knuckles, the touch of them warm as a midnight fire. She closed her own eyes, trying to etch every moment of this deep into her memory.

She opened them again only when Kili let her go, his expression far too serious again. "Do you know where you will go?"

Tauriel shook her head, forcing herself to turn back to her provisions. "There is a wide world out there for me to explore."

"There is." He hesitated. "The direction I happen to be traveling in is particularly beautiful this time of year."

She went still, breath catching in her throat. Slowly, she turned to look at him. "What are you saying?"

Something fragile flickered in his expression. "I have a promise I _must_ keep, but there is nothing that says I cannot chose whose company I keep it in." He took her hand in his again. "If you could bear with me that long, I would be free to follow you wherever you wished to go."

She swallowed, the warmth of him seeping through her. It was a dangerous thing to crave for one who had spent her life in the cool breezes. "You have a people to return to."

"As do you." The corners of his mouth curved upward a little, hopeful this time. "But it's a difficult thing to do when your thoughts insist on traveling elsewhere."

There would be repercussions. Elves and dwarves did not keep company, and she suspected neither of their people would welcome a pair who dared to defy such a rule. A place meant to fit them both might not even exist.

But she already knew that memory would not truly be enough to content her. Nor would the cool starlight that she had walked in alone for so long.

She tightened her fingers on his. "Perhaps you could show me."

His grin was like sunlight. "I'd be happy to."

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my original short fiction on my [blog](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


End file.
